My first visit to Rome, over thirty years ago now, was during the month of August – big rookie mistake, BIG. For a redhead the sun can be our worst enemy and, mixed in with stifling humidity, it is an utter disaster. I laugh at them today, but the photos of me are of great despair and anger. I was never so happy to escape a city that was followed by cruising across the Venice lagoon with a lovely breeze, in which the memory has become one the best travel moments of my life.

That particular trip instilled in me a great contempt for Rome and an absolute love of Venice. I have traveled to Rome numerous times since then always with a bit of dread and an eye roll. However, over the years my hardened heart has soften a bit asI I discovered favorite places – the Pantheon, the view
from Castello Sant’Angelo, and the neighborhood of Trastevere. My daughter has now lived in Trastevere for two years and last month we spent a week with her so I to take the opportunity to conduct hotel site tours and, most importantly, eat at her favorite local restaurants.

Trastevere (meaning “Across the Tiber River”) was originally an Etruscan fisherman’s village that was captured by the Romans during the Regal Period of 753-509 B.C. Today it is a lively neighborhood known for its great pubs, restaurants and nightlife. It can be loud, a bit dirty, has too much graffiti, but has a sense of time that is hard to describe thus, to me, this is Rome. It is as nothing as changed these
pass 2000+ years. I love exploring the streets and sampling the cuisine.

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